Sexual selection in lekking sage grouse: phenotypic correlates of male mating success

Abstract

Mate choice cues in sage grouse were reinvestigated by analyzing relationships between male mating success and a range of suggested cues. Display cues were implicated by significant relationships between mating status (whether or not a male mated) and lek attendance, display rate (corrected for effects of female proximity and time of day), and an acoustic component related to temporal and frequency measure of a whistle emitted during the strut display. Although display rate and the acoustic component were intercorrelated, both exerted significant partial effects on mating success in multivariate analyses. These display measures also differed significantly between males. In contrast, mating success was not significantly related to measures of territory characteristics, including size and proximity to the lek center, or to body size. These results resolve discrepancies between previous studies and provide a basis for experimental analysis of the role of female choice in this lek system.

How Predation Risk Affects the Temporal Dynamics of Avian Leks: Greater Sage Grouse versus Golden Eagles

“…We assume that male age and dominance are uncorrelated. Male mating success in this species is affected by multiple factors, including lek attendance, territorial status, and female choice; female choice, in turn, involves multiple cues provided by males, their territories, and the behavior of other females (Gibson and Bradbury 1985;Gibson et al 1991). We therefore use "dominance" as a shorthand for the suite of phenotypic characteristics affecting expected mating success.…”

SEXUAL SELECTION AND MALE CHARACTERISTICS IN THE BLUEHEAD WRASSE, THALASSOMA BIFASCIATUM : MATING SITE ACQUISITION, MATING SITE DEFENSE, AND FEMALE CHOICE

“…DISCUSSION There have been two general approaches taken in recent studies on the effects of phenotypic sexual selection on male traits. The first approach sorts through a series ofcharacters potentially important to sexual selection, using multiple regression techniques similar to the approach that we have used here for the bluehead wrasse (e.g., Gibson and Bradbury, 1985;Hoglund and Lundberg, 1987;Andersson, 1989;Hews, 1990;Moore, 1990;Zuk et al, 1990). This allows an estimate ofthe association ofa particular character with some fitness component, holding the effects of other traits constant.…”

Sexual Selection for Increased Male Courtship and Acoustic Signals and Against Large Male Size at Sharp-Tailed Grouse Leks

“…There may have been some traits under direct selection that I did not measure. Rates of courtship and characteristics of acoustic signals have been identified as correlates of male mating success in other lek species, and extreme values seem to be the general rule (Gibson and Bradbury, 1985;Hoglund and Lundberg, 1987;Sullivan, 1983Sullivan, , 1987Clutton-Brock et al, 1988;Hartzler and Jenni, 1988;Pruett-Jones and Pruett-Jones, 1990;but see Alatalo etal.,1991).…”

“…In the three-variable model, dance time and intercork interval replaced their correlate. In sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) too, strut rate and male size have been found to be inversely correlated, while strut rate and mating success have been positively correlated (Gibson and Bradbury, 1985). Searcy (1979) suggested, for sexually dimorphic polygynous birds, that small males may be able to push the limits of courtship rate because of the energetic advantages of small size.…”